Nepal's Pink Tourism Pitch

May 24, 2011 | Pulitzer Center

Sunil Babu Pant, Nepal's first openly gay parliamentarian, is on a mission to make Nepal a destination for gay and lesbian tourists. He has used Nepal government's "Tourism Year 2011" as a campaign to promote gay tourism in Nepal. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Sunil Babu Pant, who started the Blue Diamond Society, Nepal's first gay rights group, holds meetings with gay, lesbian and transgender members of the society on a regular basis. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Members of the Blue Diamond Society interact at their weekly meeting in the society's office in Kathmandu. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

In the last decade, Blue Diamond Society has held hundreds of programs to raise awareness about gay, lesbian and transgender rights. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Nepal, still healing from a decade-long insurgency, has been in a tough spot economically. Tourism is one of the major sources of income for many Nepalis living in the cities. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Kathmandu's restaurants provide employment to hundreds of youth. Sunil Babu Pant says by inviting more gay and lesbian tourists, Nepal can see an increase in hotel and restaurant business, and that would help provide jobs to more people. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Last year, over 500,000 tourists visited Nepal. The government hopes that they can bring in at least one million tourists to Nepal in 2011. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

A rickshaw worker waits for tourists in the busy streets of Thamel, Kathmandu's tourist hotspot. Image by Anup Kaphle. Nepal, 2011.

Nepal is celebrating 2011 as its official “Tourism Year” with the goal of bringing in one million visitors. As it tries to recover from a decade-long insurgency, the small Himalayan country looks to tap into the multibillion-dollar gay tourism market to boost its sliding economy. Two years after becoming the the first country in South Asia to decriminalize homosexuality, Nepal is now hoping to can invite gay tourists to get married and spend their honeymoon in the Himalayas.

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